Twisting Blurred Lines
by reiko.souma
Summary: It started when a Level-E dared to disguise itself as a somewhat sane human; it escalated when it bravely infiltrated Cross Academy...what's next? A vampire hunter and two Prefects simply cannot be everywhere at once. Rating will become M in the future, revolves around the last segment of the manga before its finale, and may contain spoilers. Implied future YxOC pairing.
1. 1: Discreet Invasion

Chapter 1: Discreet Invasion

Author: Hello there~! This is the first new story that I'm posting in nearly five years! This is based on one of the role-plays that I'm doing with my friend on Facebook; her pen name is Toga Yagari. Please feel free to follow and read her stories as well. We're both writing this together, so...updates may or may not follow any routine schedule. ^^;

Rated T for mild violence and some swearing; this may change to M with a strong content advisory for mature audiences in the future.

_Disclaimer: Sadly, neither of us own Vampire Knight or any of the characters. Otherwise, there would be an eternal war among all of you for control and ownership of the hotties we write about. The only character I own is Reiko Souma and her family, and any characters that my friend owns will be mentioned in future chapters._

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Standing by the window of an empty classroom with arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, the famous vampire hunter observed the Day Class on the school grounds. He watched as they mingled their way through their lunch break. Yagarī hadn't seen Zero Kiryū yet and was beginning to think his apprentice was avoiding him. Scoffing slightly, the hunter turned away from the window and walked out of the classroom, book in one hand which was resting on his shoulder with his other hand resting inside his trouser pocket. As he walked down the hallway, he ignored all of the girls' whispers about his eye patch. He didn't care because he had learned to ignore it; he knew better to let his wounds live his life for him. Sometimes, it was just an everyday reminder of the night he had lost his fiancé. Something in that fateful night held a deep, dark secret that not even Kaien or Zero knew about.

Though, everybody has their own skeletons in the closet. Some weren't as serious as others, such as some of the students in the Night Class. Rumors spiraled about as to why the entire body functioned only at night. Hardly any of them came out at daytime, which fed into the rumor that they might all be vampires. Two of the students had to protect that secret, Zero and Yūki Cross. Reiko Souma knew that much because she has seen them outside late at night on a number of nights that she would stay up late studying, and she had her own secrets to keep. Why she had that pink hair, those pink eyes, and that pale skin...why she kept the tattoo on her left arm concealed from everybody...she couldn't explain any of it. All she knew was that she had been born with the visible differences and was to live the rest of her life with sickle-cell anemia.

That medical condition was no picnic to deal with. Occasional hospital visits for a blood transfusion resulted in two weeks of bed rest afterwards; the seventeen-year old had to take a regular dose of iron pills in order to make it through each day. Eating food that was iron-rich was also a requirement. Thank goodness she wasn't a picky eater. The girl loved to eat and was unafraid of showing it, too. _I really should hurry to the classroom to study..._ thought the pink-haired student as she walked through the hallway. She was lost in her thoughts, most of which were academic-filled, that she only focused on where she was going. She wasn't paying any attention to who was around her.

Yagarī wasn't paying any more attention to his surroundings than Reiko was, as both turned a corner and bumped into each other. He partially stumbled back, using his reflexes as a hunter to steady himself. He sighed in annoyance, at the sudden interruption in his stride, and looked down to see who he had bumped into. "Reiko." he greeted in his gruff manner. The pink-haired girl was one of his quietest and least troubling students. She seemed bright for someone her age, but that didn't concern Yagarī. His main concern for being at this school was keeping a watchful concerning eye on Zero and keeping the school out of danger. _She's rather early for heading to my class._ Reiko was in the tall man's first class after lunch and was heading to that room, even though lunch break was not over yet. "What are you doing wondering the halls?" he asked coldly. He barely had any emotion of concern or pity towards his students. He was seen as gruff, cold and a man with a 'tough love' attitude. But sometimes, a very rare sometimes, he would show a glimmer of emotion. It could be concern, pain, amusement, or the like.

Back to the situation at hand, he did wonder why his pink-haired student was heading towards class instead of giggling with her friends. Didn't she have any? The one-eyed teacher's assumption that she might not was rather close to correct. Only a few were considered "close" to the girl, but that's because she didn't want to get close to anybody in the event of her health ultimately failing her. The fewer there was, the better. Reiko considered those few mere acquaintances, and nothing more. One in particular was that Yūki brunette. At least she was nice enough to be an actual friend. Well, friend enough to not cross any of the girl's guidelines.

Alas, the question had nothing to do with acquaintances and friends. Reiko had decided to take her studies indoors because today seemed to be the day where everyone ate their lunches outside. Okay; that wasn't the entire truth. Her skin was very sensitive to the sun, too. "It's unusually warm outside, so I thought I'd finish studying for today's exam inside where it'd be quiet," was her answer. That was the rest of the truth, given her slight trembles could be ignored. She hasn't been sleeping very well this week, either. Averaging four hours of sleep each night for the last three days has helped her in remembering her studies; she made a note to catch up on her sleep starting tonight. Yagarī's class was the last class with an exam to take. The weekend also looked promising for a walk out into town to do some food shopping, and her legal guardian would be accompanying her. It would be nice to see him again.

Yagarī took note of how nervous she seemed before him but thought nothing of it as he knew he came across a bit scary to students. He wasn't here to make friends, though. He was here to do a job. Kaien? Well, Yagarī certainly knew when to thump some sense back into the man. Lifting an eyebrow at the young girl's statement, he had a feeling there was more to the story than she was letting on. He didn't think the forecast was overly warm, but she was heading to the same destination that we was. Damn. Could he not get any peace? Well, if she was studying for the upcoming test, then she would surely be quiet and of no disturbance to him. "As long as you pass the test, that's all I care about," he said roughly. It was his way of saying that he hoped she would pass the test and succeed in her education, although it could easily be misinterpreted as Yagarī wasn't the best at bonding with the younger generation. "I'm heading there now myself, to set up." He motioned his head in the direction of the classroom, gesturing that she should walk with him.

Reiko followed behind him, keeping a consistent one and half-step distance behind in the walk. Walking with an attractive man such as the one in front of her was nice. He was clearly a man of few words and didn't talk much, and she was even quieter unless she was spoken to or needed to speak first. _Thank goodness everybody else is still outside. All of the girls would flip out if they saw me walking with Tōga-sensei, let alone this close._ When she had first met him on her first day of classes, she had noted the overwhelming squeals from the rest of the girls in her class with a look of annoyance on her face. The girls had squealed even louder upon finding out that their navy-haired teacher was single while Reiko sat there and shook her head. She was more reserved than the others.

One thing that bothered her about the Academy was the so-called "secret" that she had stumbled onto one night. She had learned firsthand why the Headmaster had a curfew in place after taking a midnight walk outside. Being a rule-follower of sorts would shock those who knew her personality if they ever found out about her breaking that one major rule. Reiko had climbed outside through her dormitory room window, carrying a slim katana in hand. That katana had been inherited from her parents, wherever they may be right now, and she had kept it by her side when she discovered Yūki speaking with one of the young men in a white uniform. She had seen his fangs from a distance with wide eyes, yet she hadn't freaked out at all. It simply surprised her to know that, after ten years, vampires still existed. Not all of them were crazy and out of control, either. The one she had seen looked...well, sane. But, who was there to tell about this discovery she had made? All she could do was keep this to her own self. Nobody would believe her, Reiko had assumed.

Yagarī picked up his strong pace as he walked in the direction of the classroom. Other than his subtle invitation for his student to follow him to the classroom, there was nothing to say to her unless it was related to education. He could hear the soft footsteps as she walked a little bit behind him. That didn't concern him much, but he did notice how she shook a little. Did he really scare her that much? He cocked an eyebrow at the thought. Reaching the classroom, he held the door open for her. Yes Yagarī held a tough exterior to people, but as a male, he still held values of a gentleman. "You should be able to study quietly in here for the next fifteen minutes until lunch break is over." A few thick bangs fell over the hunter's eye patch, making him appear dramatically pained from a reminder of his past. He didn't bother to move it.

That was fine with Reiko. She didn't mind it much; in fact, she valued the silence as one of those moments that were golden because they were rather rare these days. Having decided to abandon her thought of studying at the library due to the walk there and back to the classroom taking away from her study time, the teenager decided to simply stick with it. She was a bit on the shaky side, and now she knew it, but she didn't want to back out now because of how important this exam was to her. The student managed to keep up with the tall man despite her condition and didn't entertain anymore fantasizing thoughts about the attractiveness of her teacher.

'I'll just visit the clinic after class if I don't feel any better,' Reiko decided to herself. After all, sitting down for the better hour or two of the day wasn't going to kill her. She intended to dedicate some of her extra time to her Ethics class as it was because the material was starting to get difficult, and she didn't want to start falling behind. It was just like the pink-eyed student to want to stay on top of things and keep up her near-perfect average, just as it was like her to maintain her good manners no matter how gruff-natured or cold-hearted a person may be to her. "Arigatou, Tōga-sensei," were the soft words of appreciation from the seventeen-year old as she stepped through the door to the classroom. Yagarī cocked an eyebrow at her politeness. He certainly wasn't used to people using their manners towards him. Mostly being because he works amongst other hunters who were…well…_male_. Staying true to her immediate goal, she made her way over to her assigned seat three rows from the front and sat. The books and her notes couldn't do the studying for her.

Reiko looked down at her hands and saw that they weren't shaking. A good sign that was, considering her steps had been on the shaky side. Maybe she wouldn't have to visit the clinic after class, after all; that was a judgment call she would have to make later. Yagarī watched as the young woman studied her own hands. Was something wrong with her? Why was he concerned about her? Sure, he did care about his students. He cared to a point, though. Sighing under his breath, he sat down at the teacher's desk once his student had sat down at hers and pulled out the file that had all his students' work contained in it to be marked. At the same time, Reiko removed her notebook and textbook from her black leather satchel and opened up both to the appropriate pages. Then she neatly (and quietly) removed a clean sheet of paper from her notebook and, with a pencil in her hand, started to write down the answers to her own study questions that she knew the answers to. So far, so good...her focus was trained mostly on her task at hand that she barely paid any attention to Yagarī as he grabbed a pen from the desk drawer and set up to mark the work from his previous class.

Pen poised over the paper, Yagarī took a moment before his hand began gliding elegantly over the paper as he assessed the work. Sitting in an upright elegant position, one would never think that Yagarī was capable of being a Hunter. Sure his scars were evidence of past battles, but being in a suit and tie gave the Hunter elegance. A few strands of his raven locks fell over his eyes as he concentrated on marking the work; a peaceful, undisturbed look overcame his usual stoic expression.

In the short time that the young woman was completing her self-prepared study guide, she forgot about the shakiness that she had briefly dealt with. In fact, her body had stopped shaking altogether. She forgot about being in Yagarī's presence altogether as she delved deeper into her studies. Her classmates would arrive before she knew it; pausing for even the slightest break wasn't an option. The tip of Reiko's pencil continued to make soft scratchy noises as it marked the lines of the paper before her with the appropriate answers to her questions. Yes, it was official. This Day Class student was presently an academic workaholic. One had to be, especially if time was being sacrificed in order to maintain those perfect scores. Reiko the Perfectionist, a true that moniker held to this pink-haired woman. _So, the main principle behind Freud's sexually-driven psychological principles influences the various responses in the workplace more than it does outside. Women are more likely to formulate quick responses to various signs then men are due to their increased likelihood of forming logical thoughts._ Reiko's mind was completely consumed by the upcoming test that she didn't notice her writing hand slowly coming to a stop.

"Freud...motivation in ethics..." Her head came to rest on her left arm, and her pencil slid down onto the notebook to her right. Was she sleeping? The poor girl had spent the last three nights studying until three o'clock in the morning, which meant that she was only getting in four hours of sleep. No wonder the teenager was fast asleep. Enough was enough, her body had decided, and now was the time to start catching up on her sleep. Thence was the whisper like mumbles of the overworked American as various Ethics concepts continued to be so quietly spoken from her lips. A small smirk curved at the corner of her teacher's lips as he marked his pupils' work in the meanwhile. Half of them seemed to have not paid attention in his class. A mental note was made of their names to pay _extra_ attention to them.

His head snapped up when he heard a soft voice interrupt the silence. The damn girl had fallen asleep. Great. It was now up to him to wake her from her slumber. He sighed in annoyance, even though he knew well enough of what it felt like to work until the crash factor finally kicked in. No longer had Reiko been able to keep her eyes open, hence the deep slumber she now seemed to enjoy. At least the girl didn't snore, though. Wouldn't that be an embarrassment if she found out that she did so? Reiko, when awake, would doubt to every corner of the planet that anybody would tell her whether she did snore. Well, the sleeping student continued to sleep as if she was a rock. Anybody who tried to wake her up had a serious challenge on their hands, seeing as Reiko never woke up so easily.

Now Yagarī stood up, the motion making his chair push back from behind him, and walked up the flight of steps to where she was sitting. He gently shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. "Hey. Wake up. You can sleep when you're dead." This was his way of joking in a serious manner; it took some guts for any student to fall asleep in front of any teacher. For some reason, students were more likely to stay awake in Yagarī's class. At least, that's what Reiko noticed. It wasn't like she had meant to fall asleep, either. She didn't stir right away when her shoulder was gently shaken, but the sound of the bell ringing seemed to work. Her deeply-shaded pink eyes slowly opened, and she looked sideways to find that she wasn't quite alone anymore. Yagarī was standing close enough that the sleepy teenager could only assume him to have tried rousing her. Oops. She hadn't meant to fall asleep while studying!

For her to hear the bell ringing just as she was starting to wake up meant that her study time before class had just come to an end. "Oh dear..." Finally, Reiko sat up slowly and looked for her pencil. How embarrassing it was for her to have to be woken up by her own teacher! Attractive or not, she was supposed to be studying in order to maintain her very high grades. "...I am so, so sorry that you had to stop your work on my behalf, Tōga-sensei..." she said apologetically, turning in her seat to bow respectfully to him, "...I have no excuses...I've only averaged four hours of sleep most recently just so that I can keep up my grade in your class, and it must have finally caught up..." When she raised herself up again, the teenager was trying to rub the slightly dark circles away from her eyes in vain with hands that she didn't realize were shaking again. "...but I'll take that test and ace it, just like I always do!"

Seeing her awake, he stepped away from her. "Stop groveling. I don't need to hear excuses or apologies. You are free to do what you will during your breaks. Just remain awake during my class." he told her gruffly before walking away as students began to pile in to the classroom. He came across gruff as anything, but that was his way of saying _'No need to apologize. Just don't fall asleep during my class.'_ If anything, then only Kaito, Zero, and Kaien understood his behavior and emotions. Relieved that the much taller man hadn't gone weird on her after waking her, she gave her notes one final glance. Some of her study questions were unanswered, but they were only extras that didn't concern her very much. If nothing else, then she was pretty sure she deserved the response that she was given after waking. A single thought on the apology she had given made her realize that, to some extent, the girl had been groveling. Not sure whether to attribute that to her lack of sleep or not, Reiko simply nodded in place of saying another word. At least he hadn't made any comments about her grades starting to slip at all. She thought of the worry that would commence otherwise as the peace and quiet came to an end at last.

As the students shattered what remained of the former peace in the room, Reiko picked up her pencil and gave her notes one final glance. One of her female classmates, the only one who sat next to the pink-haired girl since she had a window seat, took advantage of the temporary chatter to ask if the girl was all right. All Reiko did was nod. "Sit down and pipe down!" Yagarī spoke loudly to be heard amongst the chatter. "You have an exam today. I will not hesitate to fail any of you if you didn't pay attention in my previous classes." He didn't have time for time-wasters in his class. He snatched the papers that were on his desk and walked around the classroom, and Reiko quickly returned her study materials to her satchel as Yagarī distributed the examination to each individual. "You have an hour to complete these before you next class. You will receive your marks tomorrow." Great. It meant for another long night for the Hunter. Not only did he have the damn Night Class to teach, he also had to grade these students' exams, which was vital to their curriculum. As he strode back to his desk, he said deeply, "You may begin." The sound of pencils being picked up and paper being shuffled around, were the only sounds audible. Yagarī let himself 'plonk' on his chair, placing his feet up on the desk with his arms crossed, he observed the class before him, making sure no one was cheating. His cold blue eye stared at each student individually.

_Those near sleepless nights had better pay off, or else..._ Well, there wasn't really anything to follow that up except for another increase in her study time. Reiko had already cut out most of her social life just to maintain all that she had learnt to this point; she wasn't about to let it all go to waste now and started on that test. She might as well before everything that she had studied and absorbed into her mind prior to her unplanned nap decided to abandon her. Everything and everybody went ignored by the hard-working Reiko as she focused on marking the correct answers on the test. Her way of completing tests and exams was a somewhat strange one. For starters, she always turned to the last page and worked her way backwards once the questions from the previous units had been covered (if there were any). The earlier units were always nice to see questions for since she never seemed to forget those. She found just two questions that she would have to return to once she had finished with the rest of the test...damn that wording! Maybe she should damn herself as well for not planning her sleep schedule better, but oh well. Those two questions were revisited and the answers remembered; would she be acing this exam as well?

She looked up at the clock after reminding herself that the exam was at least half of her final grade to find that she still had about twenty minutes. Good. That meant she could look over her answers to ensure that all had been answered, and that they had all been answered with her best effort. Fifteen minutes left. She couldn't do anything else that didn't involve giving a third check to her answers when she was already confident that she had passed, so she stepped out of her seat to hand the exam in. There was a shuffle and a scrape of a chair being pushed back; Yagarī looked up and saw Reiko straightening her possessions and shuffling her papers in a nice neat pile whereupon she made her way down to his desk. He was quite surprised she had finished early. He assumed she would utilize the full hour given for the exam. Whatever he was feeling was masked with his blank expression. He raised an eyebrow in recognition that he would happily receive her work before the allocated time was up.

Reiko was just placing the questions and answers down on the desk when there was a knock classroom door. The knock on the door interrupted Yagarī's thoughts and his students' focus. One couldn't deny he was annoyed at having his class interrupted; it was evident the way his icy blue eye shot daggers at the nurse. However, he knew that the medical department would not interrupt a student's exam if it weren't serious. There went the focused atmosphere, but why? Somebody from the health clinic had decided to interrupt the exam in terrible taste. "Pardon the interruption, Tōga-sensei. I need to borrow Souma-san for a few moments." Why now? The nurse has never left the clinic to track her down in class before; was something up? Confused, Reiko looked at her teacher for some sort of acknowledgement. She was actually more concerned and actually became slightly frightened when she took a closer look at the nurse's face, as the slight widening of her eyes indicated.

Upon the disruption, the rest of the class took advantage of the broken silence and began to break out in hushed whispers. This annoyed Yagarī even more. How he loathed idle gossip amongst women. "Quiet! If you intend on graduating this year, I suggest you keep your mouths shut and your brains open!" He barked at the students who quickly piped down. Yagarī spoke quietly to Reiko in an attempt to not be overheard by too many people as it was certainly none of their business. "You may go."

_Oh, thank goodness,_ was her thought at the raised eyebrow she received when she placed her test materials down. This didn't mask the surprise and slight concern that showed at the closer look of the nurse's face. Was something that wrong with the girl that the clinic was now sending for her in the middle of class? She would find out everything that she needed to know once she was at the clinic, yes. Not until then would any of her thoughts be settled, however.

Hearing the whispers from her classmates went ignored by the pink-haired student. Just her looks alone had earned her so many direct and indirect comments that she had simply become accustomed to ignoring the side chatter. Besides, it was their own exam that they would fail if they didn't remain focused. All of the studying and sacrificed sleep at night was why Reiko had finished hers so early. Nevertheless did she acknowledge her granted permission to leave with a nod, and she quietly retrieved her satchel before following the nurse out of the room.

Yagarī watched for a moment as his student left, but he soon turned his attention back to the class. He could tell that Reiko was unsettled by her interruption with the nurse; it wasn't any of his business. Neither did he care much to mingle in with it either, but it was moments later that Yagarī felt that familiar uneasiness. Locking eyes with one of his pupils, Zero (the apprentice and a fellow hunter who finally decided to show up for class), both of them shared that knowing glance in the next moment. Something was quite wrong.

One minute into their walk (of which the woman stayed five steps behind the nurse instead of the usual two steps due to her suspicion), Reiko could no longer hold back on her now-burning desire to ask her question. "Ah, I apologize in advance if what I'm about to ask comes across as offensive to your authority at all, ma'am," Reiko began, "but I couldn't help noticing that this is the first time the clinic has ever sent for me in person in my two years here. Will everything be all right?" Although she couldn't avoid asking, the nurse's slowing pace instantly brought feelings of regret over asking in the form of Reiko's stomach knotting up. Now she knew that something was wrong; however, it wasn't with the student.

Something was majorly wrong with this nurse, who came to a complete stop in the middle of the hallway. Knowing this, the teenager also stopped. Then the would-be nurse turned around and stared at Reiko with this incredibly strange expression on her face. She couldn't help but notice that the eyes had sunken noticeably, and her whites now dominated the sockets. "You should've listened to your parents' final words, little girl..!" A creepy roar followed the nurse's demonic-sounding words. Suddenly, she dashed towards Reiko and shoved her up against the nearest wall behind her.

"Ack! I knew something was wrong when you came to get me, back off you creep!" Reiko yelled. Thank goodness for those self-defense lessons! Her left foot slammed into the creepy creature's, whatever this thing was, gut and managed to send her flying into the wall across from the girl. Forget about the satchel for now - Reiko would have to come back for that later. _Ugh. My parents' last words, what did she mean by that?!_ Reiko had no time to turn her thoughts into spoken words before the creep was up and trying to attack the girl again. "Get a hobby, would you? Attacking me isn't going to get you anywhere...now back off before somebody comes and kills you!" This time, Reiko managed to kick the creature in her face and temporarily stun her. There was only so much she could do before tiredness would begin to kick in though, and she was doing everything in her human power to keep from shouting the actual identity of the creature that had decided to disguise itself as a nurse:

Vampire.

How did she know? Well, it was one of the skeletons in Reiko's closet...her parents had been vampires, but that's all she knew. Her last memory of them was being tucked into bed by them. Then suddenly, they had vanished. Ten years after the fact, Reiko still had no clue as to their whereabouts and had encountered her share of the most deranged vampires since, even before her enrollment at the Academy.

Without a word, Yagarī stood up and walked out of the classroom. With the door closed, he wasted no time in drawing out his emergency gun that he kept tucked behind his jacket. As anything and everything could happen in a matter of minutes, he turned the corner and saw a slightly panting Reiko staring at something. Third time was usually the charm, or so the saying went. If only the girl could carry her katana around with her...but no, weapons carried by students were prohibited at all times. Reiko could easily get expelled if she openly carried her family heirloom around on campus, and that she sometimes used it to defend herself during her nightly walks.

The vampire hunter looked over at the woman and saw not a woman, but a Level-E vampire. It rose to lunge at Reiko once more and managed to swiftly drag three claws across her neck. Raising the gun to aim at the long-gone woman, he pulled the trigger, turning the thing to dust. His eyes narrowed at the dust pile. _What the Hell just happened?_ he thought. Level-E's were never known to come this close to the school, let alone disguise themselves as a sane human. Was this a new breed, or was it one of Rido's new followers? _Dammit!_ There was so much to do now. He had to report it back to the Hunter's Association and to the Headmaster, yet he still had those damned exams to do.

_Huh? _Startled briefly, she came out of it when she felt three little trickles of liquid slowly dripping down the front of her neck. _Dammit. That thing got me!_ Now Reiko really _did_ have to go see the nurse, a _real_ one this time, to clean her neck up. Good grief! The wounded student placed her right hand over her surface wounds and turned. Standing there was her teacher...wielding a weapon like Zero did. Now she had a feeling that some form of sympathy would be coming to her because of this. None of this was new to her at all, really. Not the vampires, not the blood...nothing. She just didn't know what the truth was when it came to her parents and vampires.

The hunter to turn his head and look back over at Reiko. "You okay?" he asked. Yagarī held his gun tightly in his hand still, but he had dropped it down to rest at his side. He was still on guard. Reiko continued to press her hand to her neck and applied pressure. She first nodded in response to Yagarī's question. Then she looked down at the pile of dust where the deranged vampire once stood and added,

"I'll need to see a real nurse for my wound now, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who knows how to kill these things." Provided she had her weapon with her, that is. It was understandable that students be prohibited from carrying them, but it was a sore spot for the girl. She missed being able to whip out the half-meter blade from its sheath and go to town on those vampires that tried to threatened the safety of others! Alas, part of her secret had slipped out. An explanation was now in order, only that would have to wait until after she was patched up. Her injury didn't stop her from taking another look around, though. "I think that one was the only one...for now. Don't worry...you'll get to hear about the skeletons in my closet another time. I don't wanna bleed to death, over here!"

With her hand guarding her wound, the teenager of some mysteries tucked up her sleeve turned to resume her walk down the hallway towards the health clinic. She wasn't going to wait around for an invitation or send one out for anyone to follow after her, either. Let the guy stare if he wanted to. After all, he's the one who would be doing all of the staring this time instead of those crazy girls. Reiko was just relieved that the tattoo on her left arm hadn't been exposed.

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_Author's note: I may be a tad rusty right now, but reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! _(_ _) -bows-


	2. 2: Shining Skeletons

Chapter 2: Shining Skeletons

Author: Hello there~! Chantelle and I are moving pretty quickly and already have the second chapter for you to read! There may be a lack of Night Class exposure for now, but that may change near the fifth or sixth chapter. =^.^=

Rated T for mild violence and some swearing; this may change to M with a strong content advisory for mature audiences in the future.

_Disclaimer: Sadly, neither of us own Vampire Knight or any of the characters. Otherwise, there would be an eternal war among all of you for control and ownership of the hotties we write about. The only character I own is Reiko Souma, her family, and Shourim Manti, and any characters that my friend owns will be mentioned in future chapters._

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Perhaps a mistake had been made in the girl opening her mouth after all. She was one to think before she spoke most of the time, given the few exceptions here and there. Reiko started to walk off towards the health clinic after dropping that bombshell about her past. A past that she didn't like to share with anybody because she didn't like being made out for a fool was worth speaking a minor detail about. As far as receiving any form of sympathy was concerned, Yagarī only had one thought on his mind: _S__ympathy__, __my __ass__. _He was just being the dutiful teacher that he had to be. He didn't want to deal with drama between Headmaster and student about how he treated his students in situations like these. It was only a scratch to her neck and not a bite, although a bite wouldn't really matter unless it was that from a Pureblood. So, he wasn't particularly worried when she dropped the bomb about that Level-E! Narrowing his eyes at the back of her head, he certainly didn't like secrets and falsehoods. He especially didn't like them if someone was claiming to be just a student, but turned out to be something more. Why did he care? He scoffed at himself as Reiko walked away. He really didn't care; he was just doing his job as both teacher and hunter. That was all. _Damn these students to Hell._ The only student he would ever truly worry about was the one that he had been through a lot with, Zero.

To the situation at hand though, he didn't care much for what skeletons lied in Reiko's closet. Each person had their own problems, and he respected everybody's decision to not share them with the world. Lord knows how many skeletons he had in his closet. No, he didn't care much, but he couldn't deny that he was a little curious about this student of his. Yagarī glanced at the pile of dust, not helping but to feel his heart twist a little. It reminded him all too much of when the nurse, his fiancé, had turned into a Level-E and attacked his twin apprentices, Zero and Ichiru. This incident had caused him to lose his right eye. Closing his eye for a moment, he was interrupted by a voice.

"Master?" Zero's voice called out, snapping the hunter out of his thoughts. Without sparing another glance at the pile of dust, Yagarī turned around and walked over to Zero, annoyingly messing with his hair.

"You'll be informed after the exams," was all that Yagarī told him from one hunter to another. Both student and teacher made their way back to the class to finish the last ten minutes they had left. Meanwhile, guilt came over the pink-haired student with every step she took closer to the health clinic and away from her teacher. She hadn't intended to be so sarcastic with Yagarī, but she did have a secret to protect. Of course, it wouldn't be a secret if she knew why she had it to begin with. Near the top of her left arm was a tattoo that her parents had put onto her arm, which read "Pureblood Princess." She didn't know the significance of those words, so she felt that it was appropriate to keep it hidden from everybody else. It was better that way than it was to be caught with it and have to try coming up with some explanation. How exactly did one tell the truth about something that could only be lied about? It was impossible.

A reluctant Reiko stopped in front of the clinic before entering and looked around. There was the real nurse that she knew and has been used to seeing for the last two years. Feeling comfortable with the atmosphere around her now, she stepped inside and cleared her throat softly. Her slightly bloody hand remained where it was; it came down when the nurse turned around. "Souma-san, what on Earth happened? Are you all right?' The taller brunette didn't even hesitate, rising from her seat quickly to retrieve her medical supplies. Some rubbing alcohol, a couple of gauze pads, and a roll of paper tape were put to good use in cleaning and patching up the scratches. As the legitimately kind nurse did this, Reiko was thinking of the best answer without having to tell an obvious lie. She at least nodded at the second question.

_Damned if I do; damned if I don't,_ she thought. "I finished my exam in class and ended up fighting with my satchel when it got caught on the…" Her satchel! It was still lying on the floor in the hallway! "…it must still be where I left it when I came to see you. I should go get it and return to class now." The girl bowed halfway out of politeness. "Thank you for patching me up, Nurse-senpai. I'll come back if my condition causes any complications." The nurse knew exactly what Reiko meant by her "condition." The girl had anemia, and it was a miracle that she hadn't passed out from the Level-E wound. A quick blood purge by hand wash and soap, and Reiko was on her way back to class. It seemed somewhat pointless to return when there was so little time left, but the classroom was closer to her satchel than the clinic was. So, the good student that she was walked towards her class to find her satchel right where she had dropped it at. _Maybe I shouldn't go back after all…I don't want anybody to worry about me and get nosy._ Contemplating her choices, Reiko ended up sitting outside of the classroom until it was over.

The bell rang to signal that class was over. While a somewhat bored Reiko continued to sit outside of the classroom, Zero walked over to Yagarī once the students were out of the class. The classroom door was ajar slightly; unfortunately for them, anybody could have been listening. Reiko was the bored student who became curious enough to linger and listen in on the snippet of conversation between the two hunters. "What was that all about, Master?" the young boy asked Yagarī.

"What do you know of Reiko Souma?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Zero shook his head and shrugged. "Not much. Why?"

Yagarī sighed. "Just something she said earlier…there was a Level-E roaming the halls of the Academy, disguised as a nurse-"

"Master, I-" Zero started to apologize, knowing this was quite similar to the event that caused Yagarī to lose his eye ten years ago.

"Save your pity for someone who needs it!" Yagarī leaned forward on his desk. "She knew what they were. She knew how to kill it."

Zero's eyes widened. Not many knew about the existence of vampires and the Level-E's; in fact, only two of the Day Class students did.

"Perhaps she's had an incident?" Zero suggested.

Yagarī nodded. "Perhaps," he repeated, "Damn Cross has a lot of explaining to do! It was more than an incident. She knew how to fight them off. She's had training!" Based on all of this she was hearing, the subject of their conversation was still listening and silently confirming her previous assumptions in her mind. Having heard her name mentioned was a subtle cue for the now-curious girl. The girl really wasn't the only one who had been trained to hunt down those deranged vampires after all! This only meant that she would have to be much more careful when it came to hunting down the stray vampires who came to attack. Nothing else needed to be known about the frighteningly-intelligent student.

Zero also nodded. "But she couldn't have fought it off. She's weak!" the young apprentice scoffed.

"Never judge a book by its cover. Ichiru, for example."

That hit a little close to home with Zero, who quickly changed the subject. "What about the Level-E?"

Yagarī stood up, signaling the end of the conversation between the two. "It will need to be investigated." It was time for her to leave before she was caught eavesdropping anyways, although the temptation was simply too great. It was her choice to stay and linger at the risk of being caught, but how does one get caught by a pair of individuals whose actions gave her the impression that they were angry? Zero nodded knowingly and left. Yagarī cast his eyes over the now-empty classroom, contemplating his next course of action before he followed Zero's suit and walked out of the classroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

_Not as angry as they probably are…confused. Some people are easily angered whenever they're confused about something that they're curious about…_ But, Reiko decided that she wasn't worth anyone's curiosity or anger. With that thought in mind, Reiko folded her arms and watched as both Zero and Yagarī left the classroom.

It was now, later, or never. Swallowing a silent gulp, the girl unfolded her arms before resting them at her sides. How to get her teacher's attention without raising anymore possible alarms was the question. It wasn't as if Reiko had a class to be at right now, for this was her one free period to study or complete her assignments during the next hour. Her anemia exempted her from attending physical education classes, which she didn't mind either way. Alas… "Tōga-sensei!" called her gentle voice. "Are you in a rush to another class? I have something to ask; only…I'm not sure who to ask." Could he help? It was a legitimate question that the girl had, after all.

Not immediately noticing the girl who called out to him, Yagarī took long strides in the direction of the headmaster's office. That brainless idiot had some explaining to do! Perhaps this was the reason why there was a Level-E wandering the school? Perhaps Reiko was the one either unintentionally or intentionally luring them in. He certainly wouldn't be ruling out any scenarios at this time. Right now, his main concern was to keep the students out of danger and to report this incident to both the headmaster and the Hunter's Association. _Hopefully, the dickheads at the Association won't jump to conclusions and blame Zero for the incident._ Being as how Zero was a borderline Level-E, which was something between Kaien, Yagarī, and the Night Class, it was mainly between Kaname and Zero himself. Maybe it was also between Yūki and Zero as well, depending on whether or not Zero had decided to tell her or not.

Hearing his name being called, he stopped and half-turned so that he was facing the owner of the voice from the left. "What's the question in aid of?" If it was Ethics, then he could certainly answer her question. Should it be of pointless teenage drama, he'd definitely tell her where to go as he didn't have time to deal with that crap.

_Damn it all!_ Those moments where one suddenly forgot what was supposed to be said? For some seconds, that's exactly what happened to the pink-haired girl. Thankfully, she was able to regain her train of thought before it could take off on another track and ditch her again. Now she remembered what she was going to ask her teacher. Inquiring about the deranged vampire would confirm some more of her assumptions about her own teacher, but it would also mean dropping some very obvious hints about her "extracurricular activity." Well, here went nothing. "Tōga-sensei…it's about that vampire that attacked me. How many of them have tried to carry themselves as somewhat sane before today?" In other words, she knew that these low-leveled creatures have attacked before. Reiko may not know exact numbers, but she knew enough. Nobody simply played Cowboy outside in the middle of the night, especially with just two people. The game required at least two teams of three in order to be effective.

She watched as her teacher quickly looked around them the minute she opened her mouth with her open question about vampires. Luckily, it was a deserted hallway. He mentally sighed in relief at both that and of the question being a legitimate one he could answer, but the student did have to wonder if he seriously thought of her as careless enough to ask such a question in the presence of others. Oh, wait. He only knew the quiet student who studied her way to top-notch scores in the classroom. He didn't know a shred about the Reiko who had been privately trained to hunt down Level-E's for protection's sake! Nor did he know that he and her guardian looked a _lot_ alike. It had freaked her out during her first week inside of his classroom. Some of the teenage drama that she ignored was even scarier.

Besides, what did teenage drama consist of these days? The girl was no dummy, albeit she did tend to separate herself from the largely immature people around her. Her home life prior to her enrollment at this Academy has always consisted of sword practice, hunting Level-E's, and venturing off on historically-related treks to investigate artifacts that she came across. Reiko had neither the time nor the tolerance level for gossip and child's play; whilst waiting for an answer to her question, the otherwise confused female casually studied the environment around both teacher and herself. The hallway was as quiet as it usually was before her exam period ended, only something was unsettling. The pile of dust where the demolished vampire once stood smelled rather sulfuric. _Should I even be able to smell that? It's rather far…unless it's just the last of the adrenaline running through my body._ There was now a possible second question: if none of the Level-E's had ever attacked in such a manner before today, then why start now when they would only be destroyed? And third, who was behind this?

Yagarī cocked his head in the direction of the classroom and headed that way, holding the door open for her. "We can talk in here." He waited for her to enter before following behind her and closing the door. Surprise, surprise. Reiko wasn't surprised and was glad that attendance wasn't a requirement in her free period. He perched himself on the corner of the desk, knowing this would be somewhat of a rather long conversation. She sat herself down in the chair nearest to him and listened with the patience of a saint. "Firstly, we don't ever talk openly about vampires here. The Day Class students don't know of their existence except for our two Prefects, Yūki and Zero, and apparently you now as well. Secondly, you're going to have to explain to me how the Hell you know about vampires!" That brainless twat of a headmaster had neglected to mention this circumstance to Yagarī. "As cliché as it sounds, I will answer your questions after you answer mine. My position as a teacher here only allows me to divulge a certain amount of information. The more you tell me, the more I tell you," he told her. He may come across as rude, but he certainly wasn't being rude at all. Actually, Reiko had to withhold the urge to laugh at everything that Yagarī was saying. Did he honestly think that she was stupid? Keeping the secret from the other humans was the very first thing that Shourim Manti, Reiko's guardian, made her swear on her parents' existence and her katana before she could even learn how to hunt!

This was a rather serious matter, and the teacher needed to know how much Reiko knew. He didn't want to divulge too much information in case she went and blabbed the school's secrets to the town. Looking at her, Yagarī didn't think she'd be the type to do so. But being the hunter he was, he wouldn't take any risks. Reiko couldn't take any of her own risks, either. _I'm sure I could tell him everything without having to show him my tattoo…_ Insecurity always came over the teenager whenever it came to divulging any of her knowledge; only she may have to do so now if no other options remained.

After letting loose a soft sigh, the girl looked directly at Yagarī before beginning. "I'm in no way a stranger to keeping everybody here completely unaware of their not being the only race, Tōga-sensei, but please let me assure you that I'm not here under any false pretenses. I'm a legitimate student, and I really do want to graduate. My guardian, Shourim Manti, enrolled me here when I started to ask questions that nobody could answer. You see…we live five miles north of a village that consists entirely of vampires, and there's an unwritten peace treatise between our village and theirs that they would protect us from the deranged – that's what we call the Level-E's where we live – as long as we don't hunt them down. As for the questions…"

Reiko paused to sigh. She was starting to get emotional, and she didn't like that, so she swallowed the forming lump in her throat before continuing. "…my parents are missing. They've been missing for ten years, which is why a vampire hunter has been raising me this entire time. Senpai taught me how to use the katana I found outside a few years ago when he saw my interest, and we realized that it was my family heirloom. How it ended up in our backyard, we still have no idea, but we took it as a sign that my parents might still be alive. I was taught to hunt down the deranged with my katana in order to protect, but never to use my blade on any other vampire class. The fact of you being the first to hear about this should prove that I've done a very good job of hiding this secret from the rest of the Day Class. Hell, I even figured out that everyone in the Night Class is a vampire when I found a couple of the deranged coming near the dorms one night and watched two of them in white uniforms destroying them like they were paper. But, nobody knows about that either except for you now…who would believe me if I suddenly started to rant about another race that most people are convinced only exists in their dreams?"

Now Reiko had a few questions for her teacher, but they could wait. She had already let out too many bombs about her life (and probably bowed her violins in the process) that she wanted him to have the chance to respond first. All she wanted to know was whether her parents were alive, where they were located, and how long they've been where they were. She wasn't overly concerned about her dreams and her tattoo yet, but those would be asked when the time was right. Until then, Reiko put out her hands. "I…suppose this is where you take me to the Headmaster and have me expelled for keeping my concealed weapon hidden from view on the premises?"

"I harbor a shotgun. I hardly think a young girl like you would be a danger to the students. No,, you won't be expelled…but it will need to be reported to the Headmaster. Not the katana, but your knowledge of the existence of vampires." Yagarī wanted to run his hands through his hair in frustration. This girl had brought a whole lot of trouble…well, more of a whole new situation. Feeling the opposite was Reiko, who mentally sighed in relief in knowing that blatantly hiding her weapon without reporting it or asking for permission to house it in her room wasn't going to get her in any trouble at all. "As you are probably aware, this school is ridden with vampires, the Night Class. It is Kaien-san's pacifistic idea to have humans and vampires exist together in harmony. No one but the vampires, me, Zero, Yūki, and now you know about this, and I would like for it to remain that way. There's a place called the Hunter's Association, where people like me are qualified hunters who only hunt the Level-E's. We do not kill without a cause. That's murder."

Pausing for a moment gave him the chance to reflect on how much there was to discuss, and how much he couldn't tell her. Not knowing much about Reiko in general, as he was realizing by the minute, he also wasn't aware that next to nothing that he said was new to the girl. The headmaster's ideas and some of the Association's other members were exceptions. "There was one other time that I know of, a Level-E that had disguised itself as a sane person. That was ten years ago, and no such incident has occurred until today. Something I will need to report to the Association." That this other incident had occurred at all was an eye-opener to the student. She was tempted to ask for more information regarding that attack, but that was another matter she could wait on until the timing was better. What she instead wondered was how the dusty remains of the Level-E was going to be cleaned up from the hallway without raising any alarms. What was the janitor going to think, that a piece of the ceiling had caught on fire and burnt, yet there it was intact? Talk about unrealistic.

So far, he's managed to gather information. The student standing before him owned an anti-vampire katana, she knew how to use it to kill vampires, and knew of their existence. Now it was time to bring this forth to Kaien. He himself had many more questions for the girl, but it was more out of curiosity than concern. If there was nothing more, "You will need to come with me to the Headmaster," he told his pondering student. Reiko was now lost in her own thoughts, which started to come out in the form of something that most might pass of "pointless ramblings."

"The Hunter's Association…" she mumbled to herself quietly. Why did that sound so familiar? Placing her hand in front of her chin while nibbling on her thumbnail, she thought back to some of her lessons. Shourim always took Reiko with him to the Hunter's Association twice every year because of her fascination with history, and this weekend was their first trip of the year! "…that's right, the President allows me to pick one of the books from the bookshelf in his personal library, try to find one item in his personal library, and do my personal research projects on it! Senpai takes me there two times every year." Reiko moved her hand away from her face and put up two fingers with her other hand. "Last time, I wrote him a twenty-page paper on the history of the Revered Clock that sits in the foyer. Next week, I'm thinking of bringing my katana in and asking one of the assistants for help in finding books on it to research…you're the hunter. Do you think it's a good idea for a hunter to present their weapon for research? Maybe they can help me find my parents!"

All of this talking was much more than the girl was used to doing; this is how much history excited her! It also wasn't what Yagarī expected to hear. He expected her to react to something; _anything_! Instead came her tangent, which threw him off. _Wait, she's been to the Hunter's Association?! What the Hell?! Hang on, hold up! She's going way too far now!_ Not that she could always help it whenever history was concerned. Fascinating results always came from her self-assigned projects, even though Shourim had warned her against bringing her katana to the Hunter's Association. More specifically, his warning was for her to never let her katana sit in another person's hands had gone forgotten due to her excitement in starting on a new project. Reiko always acted like a little girl at the mention of history, her pink eyes sparkling with excitement. "Yes, I am a hunter. The top hunter there is, but that doesn't mean I'll be baby-sitting you because you want to go to the Association. That's something you'll need to ask permission of Kaien-san. You're not even a registered hunter at the Association, nor will you ever be! It's certainly not a place for a woman!" Sighing, the hunter was beginning to get frustrated with her. _To Hell with the codes of conducts that teachers have to follow. She can't go meddling around dangers like this! _Who knows, maybe she did unintentionally bring more trouble to the school than she realized by going out and hunting those Level-E's! This was just great, the bee's knees for him. Just when he thought those damn exams were enough, there had to be a Level-E to report, a possible hunter among the students, and gods know what else! Which would he prefer, though, this or teenage drama? "Kaien-san will need to hear about this," he said as he rose from his position at the desk and walked over to the door, holding it open.

Reiko's gut suddenly started to knot itself up rather tightly and sobered her up fast, but that didn't mean she was about to change her mind about her project anytime soon. _Whoops…I keep on forgetting to not overexert myself if I don't want to get sick again. Maybe we should just go see Headmaster-senpai before someone finds us here alone and starts asking unnecessary questions… _She was able to recover quickly, though. He waited for her to pass him before saying (being that he always had to have the last word, especially when he was right in this case and knew very little about her in-depth knowledge), "Oh, and another thing. Don't you ever hunt Level-E's again. You need a written order to do so unless a situation occurs where it puts yourself or a civilian at risk!"

Had he heard nothing that she had said? "I wasn't asking for your permission, Tōga-sensei." Reiko maintained her usual quiet voice; however, she was now giving a hint that he had better listen up if he wanted to know more about his student. "Nor do I need Headmaster-senpai's permission." Maybe the tall man had missed the part where Reiko had mentioned her being raised by a vampire hunter. Shourim was anything but an unregistered member, and Reiko had no interest in ever mingling with anybody beyond her fascination with history. All she could do at this point was shake her head at her teacher as she left the classroom before him. _I don't care what any of my crazy classmates have to say about him. Yagarī-sensei may look handsome, but he's worrying way too much about this. He acts like I'm going to go on a hunting rampage!_

Now his attempt of ordering her around had irritated the teenager. Teacher, hunter, or neither, that man was _not_ Shourim! What did she do, give him the wrong impression of her hunting Level-E's? She had been given the same explicit instructions from her _own_ guardian every year and was supervised when it came to doing 'protection hunts" (that is, killing dangerous Level-E's). Reiko had obviously gotten herself into a mess by answering his questions and offering a bit more about herself. It was now up to her to clean it up responsibly.

A soft cough escaped her once she started walking ahead of her teacher. She had been attempting to clear her throat…with a surface wound. "You really have it all wrong…thinking that I would go around, waving my katana at every Level-E in such a careless matter." Reiko stopped and turned for a moment, staring at her teacher with her eyes leveled for the first time ever. "I'm young, not stupid." With that said pointedly, the girl turned again and walked herself towards the headmaster's office without waiting for Yagarī to catch up or follow. Walking behind her with ease, Yagarī cocked an eyebrow. He certainly didn't expect her to be rather feisty, considering how quiet and respectful she was in his class. Not saying that she was ever disrespectful, even in their arguing, it was like he said to Zero: never judge a book by its cover. Yes, he perhaps did see her as one to wave her katana around. But, he shouldn't have said or made that assumption. He was only making a point that, just because you know how to wield a weapon, doesn't mean you have to hunt down Level-E's or barge your way through the Hunter's Association.

He wasn't joking when saying that it was a dangerous place, but he neglected to remember that the girl had already seen many dangers for someone her age. Sighing, he pushed his thoughts aside and focused on the meeting with the headmaster. "Do you have any classes you need to attend?" he asked her, not wanting to keep her if the meeting was to go on rather long. Knowing Kaien, that damn twat would want to show off his "glorious food," if one could even call it that.

* * *

_*Co-author Reiko's note: apologies if these chapters seem long! I'm working on shortening them up a bit, so please bear with me. Thank you! _=^.^=


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